No bottle deposit return scheme for most of UK until 2024 at earliest

Scheme will not come into effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland until at least six years after it was announced

A promised deposit return scheme for plastic bottles to cut marine pollution will not be in place in England, Wales and Northern Ireland until late 2024 at the earliest - six years after it was announced by the government as a key environmental policy.

Critics said the delay was embarrassing" and not the sign of a government committed to tackling plastic pollution.